Just wondering what some of your favorite gels are. I receieved my Curly Book last week and must admit that I am STILL confused as to what ingredients to look for.....either that or I just don't have the time to study it like I should!

I have made selections for all of my products except for a good, ingredient-approved gel.

**by the way, looking for something that doesn't make my hair crunchy. I haven't used gel in years so I am a little nervous about the "crunch" factor**

Thanks everyone, you all have been incredibly helpful so far and I am elated to have found this site.

I really really like Herbal Essence's Body Envy gel and it is CG. If you use too much you will get crunch, though it is really easy to scrunch out and very soft and not wet looking after scrunching. Just to give you an idea how little it takes I have hair that is just a little longer than shoulder length and is normal to fine in texture and a nickel sized amount makes it just slightly crunchy. Hope that helps!

If you like a lighter hold and a little moisture, maybe Aura Hypoallergenic gel or Flaxseed gel? Both available at Sally's.

Most all drugstore gels (White section) are CG but some aren't a good idea to use because the alcohols can be drying. You should try to avoid alcohols whenever possible except for cetearyl, stearyl and cetyl...or however they are spelled.

If you shop in the "ethnic" section of drugstores, you might want to look out for lanolin and parafin in some of the gels...and avoid them. But they would be rare for gel. But the Black-oriented hair gels often contain "copolymers" which are basically plastics. Not technically anti-CG but best to limit their use because they build up and dull the hair over time, I think. "Carbomer," another common ingredient in the Black gels, is water soluable, I believe.

Garnier Fructis gels usually contain some kinds of fruit-derived waxes...of questionable soluability. Best to avoid.

LA Looks Curl gel and Herbal Essences Totally Twisted give light-medium hold with minimal crunch. Auro hypo allergenic gives slightly more hold, but you may need to scrunch the crunch out once your hair dries. If you're willing to order online, you could try devacurl Angell. It has a light hold and a very natural crunch-free finish. I wouldn't worry to much about finding a clear gel. I've used all sorts of colors and it never seemed to make a difference. In fact one of Lorraine Massey's gels is orange, so I'm guessing she doesn't think it's too big a deal anymore either.

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I like LA Looks Curls gel when my hair was short. However, due to the thick consistancy, I find it pulls the curls out of my hair now that it's longer. Now I go for more liquidy gels.

I love Aura Hypoallergenic, but I find it to be a little expensive for the size of the bottle. I would probably be buying about two bottles a month if I just used it exclusively. That's not a lot for some people, but I'm not used to repurchasing products that often.

A cheaper option that I recently discovered and love is Volumax Styling Gel. The "small" bottle is quite large and it is also available in liter sizes. The more you use, the more crunch you get, so you can use as much or as little as you like. The only thing I don't like about it is the scent. Very...I don't know...sickly fruity? It's hard to describe. Anyway, it doesn't linger, so I don't mind it much.

I just posted about the LALooks Curl gel. I love this stuff. A little dab'll do ya. i rub it between my palms pretty well, then gently scrunch it into my hair, paying close attention to forming clumps. No crunch or stickiness (the crunch is no good for me-my hair is too fine.)

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